Managing differences by focusing on communication qualities: Pupils learning mathematics in pairs at a computer

• Face-to-face communication when pupils work with geometry in pairs at a computer.
• Collaborative research – teacher and pupils as “researchers”.
• Links between communication qualities and mathematics learning.
• Pupils manage to have productive collaboration despite differences.

The article presents a study of face-to-face verbal communication when pupils work with geometry in pairs and share a stand-alone computer with Geoboard software. The work sessions of pairs of 9th grade pupils are video recorded, and a screen recorder is used to capture their computer activity. The study focuses on identifying and characterizing good communication practices that enhance mathematics learning through joint research reflections between the pupils, the teacher, and the researcher. The major finding concerns how two of the pupils have diverging perspectives on how to communicate mathematics, yet they manage to have productive collaboration. The differences generate collaborative challenges for the pupils and an opportunity to discuss how pupils’ communication qualities can prove important in fruitfully managing such challenges.